diff --git a/azure/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/azure/TestAdlsTokenCredentialProviders.java b/azure/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/azure/TestAdlsTokenCredentialProviders.java
index 5060a9bc4455..80474463f11c 100644
--- a/azure/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/azure/TestAdlsTokenCredentialProviders.java
+++ b/azure/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/azure/TestAdlsTokenCredentialProviders.java
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ public void nonImplementingClassAsCredentialProvider() {
         ImmutableMap.of(AzureProperties.ADLS_TOKEN_CREDENTIAL_PROVIDER, "java.lang.String");
     assertThatIllegalArgumentException()
         .isThrownBy(() -> AdlsTokenCredentialProviders.from(properties))
-        .withMessageContaining("java.lang.String does not implement AdlsTokenCredentialProvider");
+        .withMessage(
+            "Cannot use java.lang.String as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.azure.AdlsTokenCredentialProvider");
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/DynConstructors.java b/common/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/DynConstructors.java
index bf857a15ab89..06eceb45bdf8 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/DynConstructors.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/DynConstructors.java
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ public <T> Builder impl(Class<T> targetClass, Class<?>... types) {
         return this;
       }
 
+      checkBaseClassAssignableFrom(targetClass);
       try {
         ctor = new Ctor<>(targetClass.getConstructor(types), targetClass);
       } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
@@ -189,6 +190,7 @@ public <T> Builder hiddenImpl(Class<T> targetClass, Class<?>... types) {
         return this;
       }
 
+      checkBaseClassAssignableFrom(targetClass);
       try {
         Constructor<T> hidden = targetClass.getDeclaredConstructor(types);
         AccessController.doPrivileged(new MakeAccessible(hidden));
@@ -230,6 +232,16 @@ private Class<?> classForName(String className) throws ClassNotFoundException {
         }
       }
     }
+
+    private void checkBaseClassAssignableFrom(Class<?> targetClass) {
+      if (baseClass != null) {
+        Preconditions.checkArgument(
+            baseClass.isAssignableFrom(targetClass),
+            "Cannot use %s as an implementation of %s",
+            targetClass.getName(),
+            baseClass.getName());
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   private static class MakeAccessible implements PrivilegedAction<Void> {
diff --git a/common/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/TestDynConstructors.java b/common/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/TestDynConstructors.java
index 1edf70a7fbba..61e5e9d627e2 100644
--- a/common/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/TestDynConstructors.java
+++ b/common/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/common/TestDynConstructors.java
@@ -42,29 +42,38 @@ public void testInterfaceImplNewInstance() throws Exception {
 
   @Test
   public void testInterfaceWrongImplString() throws Exception {
-    DynConstructors.Ctor<MyInterface> ctor =
-        DynConstructors.builder(MyInterface.class)
-            // TODO this should throw, since the MyUnrelatedClass does not implement MyInterface
-            .impl("org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyUnrelatedClass")
-            .buildChecked();
-    assertThatThrownBy(ctor::newInstance)
-        .isInstanceOf(ClassCastException.class)
+    assertThatThrownBy(
+            () ->
+                DynConstructors.builder(MyInterface.class)
+                    .impl("org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyUnrelatedClass")
+                    .buildChecked())
+        .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
         .hasMessageStartingWith(
-            "class org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyUnrelatedClass cannot be cast to class org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyInterface");
+            "Cannot use org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyUnrelatedClass as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyInterface");
   }
 
   @Test
   public void testInterfaceWrongImplClass() throws Exception {
-    DynConstructors.Ctor<MyInterface> ctor =
-        DynConstructors.builder(MyInterface.class)
-            // TODO this should throw or not compile at all, since the MyUnrelatedClass does not
-            // implement MyInterface
-            .impl(MyUnrelatedClass.class)
-            .buildChecked();
-    assertThatThrownBy(ctor::newInstance)
-        .isInstanceOf(ClassCastException.class)
+    assertThatThrownBy(
+            () ->
+                DynConstructors.builder(MyInterface.class)
+                    .impl(MyUnrelatedClass.class)
+                    .buildChecked())
+        .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
+        .hasMessageStartingWith(
+            "Cannot use org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyUnrelatedClass as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyInterface");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testInterfaceWrongHiddenImplClass() throws Exception {
+    assertThatThrownBy(
+            () ->
+                DynConstructors.builder(MyInterface.class)
+                    .hiddenImpl(MyUnrelatedClass.class)
+                    .buildChecked())
+        .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
         .hasMessageStartingWith(
-            "class org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyUnrelatedClass cannot be cast to class org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyInterface");
+            "Cannot use org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyUnrelatedClass as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.common.TestDynConstructors$MyInterface");
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/CatalogUtil.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/CatalogUtil.java
index 2b400ccebc8b..863150d45d0a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/CatalogUtil.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/CatalogUtil.java
@@ -407,14 +407,7 @@ public static FileIO loadFileIO(
           String.format("Cannot initialize FileIO implementation %s: %s", impl, e.getMessage()), e);
     }
 
-    FileIO fileIO;
-    try {
-      fileIO = ctor.newInstance();
-    } catch (ClassCastException e) {
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-          String.format("Cannot initialize FileIO, %s does not implement FileIO.", impl), e);
-    }
-
+    FileIO fileIO = ctor.newInstance();
     configureHadoopConf(fileIO, hadoopConf);
     if (fileIO instanceof SupportsStorageCredentials) {
       ((SupportsStorageCredentials) fileIO).setCredentials(storageCredentials);
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestCatalogUtil.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestCatalogUtil.java
index 84e79e35c9b5..c13071985e9b 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestCatalogUtil.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestCatalogUtil.java
@@ -108,8 +108,8 @@ public void loadCustomCatalog_NotImplementCatalog() {
                 CatalogUtil.loadCatalog(
                     TestCatalogNoInterface.class.getName(), name, options, hadoopConf))
         .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
-        .hasMessageStartingWith("Cannot initialize Catalog")
-        .hasMessageContaining("does not implement Catalog");
+        .hasMessage(
+            "Cannot use org.apache.iceberg.TestCatalogUtil$TestCatalogNoInterface as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.catalog.Catalog");
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -214,8 +214,8 @@ public void loadCustomFileIO_badClass() {
             () ->
                 CatalogUtil.loadFileIO(TestFileIONotImpl.class.getName(), Maps.newHashMap(), null))
         .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
-        .hasMessageStartingWith("Cannot initialize FileIO")
-        .hasMessageContaining("does not implement FileIO");
+        .hasMessage(
+            "Cannot use org.apache.iceberg.TestCatalogUtil$TestFileIONotImpl as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.io.FileIO");
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -263,7 +263,8 @@ public void loadCustomMetricsReporter_badClass() {
                         CatalogProperties.METRICS_REPORTER_IMPL,
                         TestFileIONotImpl.class.getName())))
         .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
-        .hasMessageContaining("does not implement MetricsReporter");
+        .hasMessage(
+            "Cannot use org.apache.iceberg.TestCatalogUtil$TestFileIONotImpl as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.metrics.MetricsReporter");
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestLocationProvider.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestLocationProvider.java
index 146f2c8da5e7..6bfeaa75fb51 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestLocationProvider.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestLocationProvider.java
@@ -183,8 +183,7 @@ public void testInvalidNoInterfaceDynamicallyLoadedLocationProvider() {
     assertThatThrownBy(() -> table.locationProvider())
         .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
         .hasMessage(
-            "Provided implementation for dynamic instantiation should implement %s.",
-            LocationProvider.class);
+            "Cannot use org.apache.iceberg.TestLocationProvider$InvalidNoInterfaceDynamicallyLoadedLocationProvider as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.io.LocationProvider");
   }
 
   @TestTemplate
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/TestHTTPClient.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/TestHTTPClient.java
index 8cf97bca32ef..dadd61112bfd 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/TestHTTPClient.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/TestHTTPClient.java
@@ -391,8 +391,8 @@ public void testLoadTLSConfigurerNotImplementTLSConfigurer() {
         ImmutableMap.of(HTTPClient.REST_TLS_CONFIGURER, Object.class.getName());
     assertThatThrownBy(() -> HTTPClient.configureConnectionManager(properties))
         .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
-        .hasMessageStartingWith("Cannot initialize TLSConfigurer")
-        .hasMessageContaining("does not implement TLSConfigurer");
+        .hasMessage(
+            "Cannot use java.lang.Object as an implementation of org.apache.iceberg.rest.auth.TLSConfigurer");
   }
 
   @Test